About Forterra
Forterra is unleashing autonomy at scale to transform the battlefield. Our mission is to build foundational platforms that enable an intelligent ecosystem to coordinate, adapt, and execute with speed and precision even in the uncertainty and disruption of modern conflict. We design for flexibility, survivability, and operational dominance.
About the role
Forterra is expanding its mission through Vektor, a next‑generation, edge‑deployed, software‑defined communications and smart data‑brokering layer built for degraded and low‑bandwidth environments. As a Senior Network Systems Engineer you will deploy, operate, and troubleshoot Vektor’s network infrastructure across field sites and cloud environments. You will be hands‑on with routers, switches, radios, and Linux appliances, configuring them, automating them, and ensuring performance under real‑world constraints. Approximately 50% of the role involves travel to customer and field locations for installations, maintenance, and support.
What you’ll do
We are looking for engineers who are equally comfortable behind a terminal and behind a rack, care deeply about uptime and security, and enjoy solving problems that span Layer 2 through the application stack. As a core member of the infrastructure team you will:
- Design, deploy, and maintain L2/L3 network infrastructure across Vektor’s install base — routing, switching, VLANs, trunking, QoS, and VPN tunnels.
- Configure and operate Linux‑based network appliances using systemd‑networkd, Netplan, iptables, StrongSwan, and WireGuard.
- Build and maintain infrastructure‑as‑code (Ansible, Terraform) to automate provisioning and configuration of network and compute resources.
- Collect, analyze, and act on network telemetry using Grafana, Telegraf, and related tooling.
- Deploy and manage AWS GovCloud and Commercial infrastructure (EC2, VPC, Transit Gateway, Security Groups) that supports Vektor’s cloud‑side services.
- Travel to customer and field sites (~50%) for installation, commissioning, troubleshooting, and ongoing support of deployed systems.
- Collaborate across engineering in design reviews and deployment planning, mentor teammates, and drive best practices for network operations and automation.
Minimum Qualifications
- 5+ years of hands‑on network engineering experience (vendor‑agnostic routers and switches).
- Strong L2/L3 fundamentals — routing protocols (BGP, OSPF, or Babel), VLANs, trunking, QoS, NAT/PAT, multicast, IPv4 + IPv6.
- Experience with site‑to‑site and remote access VPN (IPsec/StrongSwan, WireGuard).
- Hands‑on infrastructure automation (Ansible or Terraform) and scripting (Bash, Python, or Go).
- Working knowledge of cryptography fundamentals — PKI, IPsec, FIPS compliance requirements.
- AWS experience — VPC design, EC2, Security Groups, Transit Gateway.
- Willingness and ability to travel ~50% domestically to field and customer sites.
Preferred Qualifications
- Experience with MANET radios and mesh networking in defense or tactical environments.
- Familiarity with NIST/CMMC compliance frameworks.
- Experience with VXLAN overlays.
- Knowledge of IGMP/PIM for multicast routing.
- Experience with DHCP/DNS infrastructure at scale.
- Exposure to telemetry pipelines (InfluxDB, Telegraf, Grafana).
Salary and Benefits
US Salary Range: $140,000 – $185,000.
- Premium health coverage.
- Basic life/AD&D, short‑ and long‑term disability insurance fully covered.
- Generous paid time off (20 days per year).
- Paid parental leave (≥7 weeks).
- Tuition reimbursement or professional development stipend ($9,000 annually).
- 401(k) plan with matching up to 4%.
Security Clearance
This position may require eligibility to obtain and maintain a U.S. security clearance.
Equal Opportunity
Forterra is an equal‑opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to veteran status, disability status, or criminal history, in accordance with applicable laws. Forterra also provides reasonable accommodations to individuals with disabilities.
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